little
rough window of the cottage and fell softly on her bright head. Her
grandfather looked at her grandmother, and her grandmother looked at
her grandfather. They didn't know how to speak--they were so surprised.
Never, since they were quite, quite little children had they seen such
a thing. And they whispered to each other that it must be a magic sign,
they must let the child go. I think it was very good and kind of them to
let her go, the only thing they had to cheer them. The tears rolled down
their poor old faces as they said good-bye to her, not knowing if they
would live to see her return. But they said to each other, 'We have not
very many years to live. It would be very wrong of us to lose the chance
of life and happiness for all the poor forest people just to keep _our_
bit of sunshine to ourselves.' And so they let her go, for they were
good old people."

"Ses," said Ted, "zem was very kind. But how dedful for Sunny to have to
go to the diant. Did her go all alone, Mabel?"

"Yes, all alone. But she wasn't frightened. And somehow her grandfather
and grandmother weren't frightened for her either. They had a feeling
that she _had_ to go, and so she did. She set off the very next morning.
Her grandfather explained the way to her, for old as he was he had never
forgotten the days when the passage through the giant's mountain was
left free and open, so that there was no need for the forest people to
spend all their lives in the gloom and shade.

"Sunny walked quietly along the dark paths among the trees. She didn't
dance and skip as usual, for she felt as if all of a sudden she had
grown almost into a woman, with the thought of what she had to do for
her poor neighbours. And as she looked about her, she felt as if she had
never before quite noticed how dark and chill and gloomy it was. She had
a good way to walk, for since the closing of the passage the people had
moved farther and farther into the forest. They had grown afraid of the
giant, and were glad to get as far from him as they could, for there
was no good to be got by staying near him. So Sunny walked on, past the
cottages she knew, where she nodded to the people she saw, but without
speaking to them, which was so unlike her usual merry way that they all
looked after her in surprise and wondered what had come over the little
girl. And one or two of them shook their heads and said sadly that she
was getting to be like the rest of them. But Sunny walked